By the morning, protesters with signs and chants had dispersed, leaving the Thin Blue Line flag to fly alone in a hazy sky. An Open Letter to the Political Leadership of America, The Ranger Standard: A "Violence Of Action" Excerpt, China Pwns Us: How the Chinese are Buying Up America, Case Study Ramadi: A Rip-It Ranger Looks Back, Remington Tac 14: The Shotgun, That Isnt, Cancel Culture: Black Rifle Coffee Company vs. 2a Bro-Vets. It still holds true today. And luckily for all of the others, it is! The history, though, is clear: from the Civil War through the civil rights movement, the flag has always been about white supremacy. The group split from Vanguard America (VA) in late August 2017, several months after VA participated in a white supremacist rally on the capitol steps in Austin, Texas. Embrace Violence. They believe that Joe Biden has declared a civil war on them by mandating that employers with over 100 employees and the military have vaccinations. In 1863, the editor of the Southern Literary Messenger wrote that the flag's Southern cross pointed to "the destiny of the Southern master and his African slave" the Confederacy's hoped-for expansion of slavery into Latin America. Johnson, CEO of the NAACP, says he wishes poor whites would recognize how powerful politicians have long played racial politics with Confederate emblems a deliberate strategy to divide them from people with shared economic interests. To others, its a trendy phrase you most likely associate with the new age mentality brought on by the latest Mixed Martial Arts fighting rage to sweep the country. Those who object are subject to exemplary violence. I am going to start researching this, she adds about the history as Kate calls for her. I would not be up around the last flag making a chain gang to keep somebody from taking it down, Davis says. The flag not gon change the hate., Stuart blames detractors. Until that kid went in that church in Charleston, people never thought anything about the Confederate or Mississippi flag, she says. In the early 1950s, stock car racers, Southern universities, and social groups embraced the Confederate flag, Coski wrote in his book. "The hate-filled murderer who massacred our brothers and sisters in Charleston has a sick and twisted view of the flag, Haley said. For this chosen group, violence is the answer. Look at whats happening to our statues! he says. Nance also noted that Cawthorn's propaganda video is thematically similar to the type of propaganda used by Islamic terroristgroups such as ISIS and al-Qaida to radicalize and recruitmembers. Get notified when we re-open our online store. But the flag's meaning was never really innocuous. (Salon did not find licensed news photographs of these flags, and has made the editorial decision not to reproduce the images mentioned above, which are easy to find on social media.). One mans prison sentence for a murder seen by millions on camera is a long way from the transformation we need. As recently as 2011, Haley dismissed concerns about the flag, saying she thought the state had moved on. Less-lethal munitions, which can blind and mutilate, stutter through the nighttime streets. According to the people on TikTok and the Sun (British tabloid), the black American flag originated in the civil war and was flown by the Confederates. Thelethal attack on the Capitol hadbeenpublicly announced weeks in advance, and should have come as no surprise. The history teacher could handle it if the state flag changed, though. ", Somewhat puzzlingly, in the same report that featured the anti-Truman flag buyer in New Jersey, Life wrote off the flag's popularity as a fad. Patriot Front is a Texas-based white supremacist group led by Thomas Ryan Rousseau. They're angry. Larry McCluney Jr teaches history to mostly black high school and college students in Greenwood, Mississippi. Please enter a valid email and try again. It flew for all colors, black, white, whatever, she says. In the interest of reuniting white Americans, the narrative around the Civil War changed in its aftermath. So, I say to you again, simply I would bring fear and death to them all!. Davis is circumspect on the complicated history: I can say it was wrong, and I hope I wouldnt have participated in (slavery), but how can we know for sure?. As historian John Coski writes in, Southerners weren't shy about enlisting the design in the cause of white supremacy. I later share those words with Derrick Johnson, the national president and CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), who previously led the Mississippi chapter. In a recent speech tothe North Carolina Faith and Freedom Coalition's "Salt & Light" conference, Rep. Madison Cawthorn, R-N.C.,issued what sounded like a declaration of war: It is time for the American Christian church to come out of the shadows to say, "No longer are we going to allow our culture to be determined by people who hate the things that we believe in. According to Jacob, the blue line both divides and saves: It separates the black stripes representing civilians above it from the black stripes below it, which represent criminals, a distinct category from people worthy of protection. All hope for peace is dead. Surely the flags defenders will proffer other, muddier, interpretations which allow them the luxury of looking away. He wrote the chancellor that he would never buy another ticket after the game ban of the rebel flag. McCluney has taught history and government for 25 years to mostly black Delta students. Support our mission, and make a gift today. What matters is this, they will fear the sword and the bearded ones wielding it. In fact, if the originalhost dies, he or she can beelevated to the status ofmartyr for "the cause,"serving to inspireexisting followers and lure in new ones. Rather than thinking that they ought to be chastened by being caught on tape beating, tear-gassing, and pepper-spraying protesters, perhaps doing all this in full view of the public is the point, Wyman wrote in a column addressing the war scenes in American streets surrounding the initial wave of Floyd protests. Sign up to receive email updates daily and to hear what's going on with us! As red flags show up more and more over time, you'll start noticing patterns of behavior. A Mississippi flag seen on the side of the road in Simpson County, Mississippi. Studies have shown that police dont solve most violent crimes. To me, the flag is not a racist thing. Joe Barnes gets into the truck at his home in Seminary, Mississippi. Coski records the Afro-American, a nationally prominent black newspaper, as asking. They primarily use Tik Tok as a recruiting tool and let others know their willingness to commit violence. So did the Citizens' Councils, white supremacist groups of prominent and successful people who opposed integration. Still, Davis balks at the need to exorcise the emblem from the state flag today out of respect to Mississippians who descended from slaves. Other official flags were also displayed during the Nazi regime. ''I don't believe [Confederate] service, however distinguished, needs to be commemorated in a way that offends, that deeply hurts, people whose ancestors were once denied their freedom by my ancestors,'' McCain said. After last week's racially motivated slaying of nine African Americans in a South Carolina church, the flag has become a target for those who consider it a symbol of hatred, a strident reminder. Thomasa Massey and Evangela Hentz are close friends in Brandon, Mississippi. The Thin Blue Line flag shows how far America has to go to heal from police violence. Neither Ira nor Lindy has asked black acquaintances why the flag is offensive, or asked why many believe it belongs in museums, but not part of a state emblem. Even as some embrace mutual aid, others resort to violence. Like other vestiges of the Confederacy, the flag outlived the Civil War. It's alarming because there is probably an equal number of guys on there talking about the civil war plans and actively using Tik Tok to recruit these military and ex-military members. The Confederate flag controversy: What does the flag mean today? Correction: An earlier version of this article said Alabama's state flag includes the Confederate flag. On Sunday, at a rally in Colorado, Mr. Trump proudly held up a rainbow flag with the words "LGBT for Trump" written on it to a cheering crowd of thousands. document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); document.getElementById( "ak_js_3" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Copyright 2023 The Havok Journal. Put it in a museum. I try to be sensitive. Retired military, Barnes used to attend all the Ole Miss college football games, but he now watches on TV. Open a museum?, Ive never heard of an apology from the Klan in Franklin County for harassing and assaulting my family while flying that flag. Financial contributions from our readers are a critical part of supporting our resource-intensive work and help us keep our journalism free for all. Mississippi has bent over backwards to say Im sorry. However you interpret these videos posted byTrump followers and otherneofascists which couldbe mainly performative it is clearly true that the Americanright isincreasingly willing to accept or condoneviolence as a means of expanding and protecting their social and political power. In actuality, it is better than a gold standard, because violence has universal value. Barnes, 66, beams as he hands us his SCV card with Nathan Bedford Forrest, the wealthy Memphis slave trader and first KKK grand wizard, pictured on the front. Lindy nods, describing her childhood of poverty when the familys land was all they had left. His own ancestors sacrifice is paramount. Yes, he was. And I was one of several plaintiffs in a lawsuit against Mississippi in 1993 to have the flag taken down. The SCV intervened in that lawsuit and won. 100% Cotton. And when Southerners at the time said the flag represented their culture, they made it very clear whose culture they meant: "It means the Southern cause," Roy Harris, a legendary Georgia politician, said in 1951, according to Coski's book. Many people were taught certain things.. The matter is especially raw in Mississippi, a state that suffered tremendous Confederate casualties and went from being the richest state from slavery before the civil war to one of the poorest. And they`re willing to take up arms for it.". Anything less, and the disease of American fascism will only go dormant until it is resurrected again perhaps in amore dangerous and virulent form. The Havok Journal welcomes re-posting of our original content as long as it is done in compliance with our Terms of Use. But that reverence now stops at the capitol grounds. When a highly symptomatic individual is placed in an influential position, the person's symptoms can spread through the population through emotional bonds, heightening existing pathologies and inducing delusions, paranoia and propensity for violence even in previously healthy individuals. The leader, hungry for adulation to compensate for an inner lack of self-worth, projects grandiose omnipotence while the followers, rendered needy by societal stress or developmental injury, yearn for a parental figure. I have struggled. In the 1960's civil rights movement, division existed between black leaders who sought to use peaceful protest to effect change (most notably pastor Martin Luther King, Jr.) and those, like the. She grew up in Red Bay, Alabama, in a former slave region that the last census showed as 93% white and 1% black. She is the author of the recent book "Culture Warlords: My Journey Into the Dark Web of White Supremacy.". Most of the soldiers were young a fifth were under 18 and few owned any of the 4 million slaves in the US. The debate reignited in 2015 after Dylann Roof killed nine black people in a church in Charleston, South Carolina. They are the opposite of the white flag of surrender. Their God, our God, it doesnt matter. There are plenty of big bangs in "Flags of Our Fathers," but because . The south was demanding a federal slavery code to force all states to comply with the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 and return runaways to owners, even as northern states were passing personal liberty laws to circumvent what abolitionists called the bloodhound law. 0:57. In actuality, it is better than a gold standard, because violence has universal value. Directed by Clint Eastwood; written by William Broyles Jr. and Paul Haggis, based on the book by James Bradley with Ron Powers; director of photography, Tom Stern; edited by Joel Cox; music by Mr.. 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